Apparatus for packaging compressible disc-like articles



Feb. 5, 1963 POVLACS 3,076,297

APPARATUS FOR PACKAGING COMPRESSIBLE DISC-LIKE ARTICLES Filed 001;. 2,1959 8 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR LAWRENCE POVLACS F m BY m ATTORNEY Feb.5, 1963 A POVLACS 3,076,297

APPARATUS FORAPACKAGING COMPRESSIBLE DISC-LIKE ARTICLES Filed Oct. 2,1959 8 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR LAWRENCE POVLACS ATTORNEY Feb. 5,1963 IL. POVLACS 3,076,297

APPARATUS FOR PACKAGING COMPRESSIBLE DISC-LIKE ARTICLES Filed Oct. 2,1959 8 Sheets-Sheet 3 \N VENTOR Lawrence POU&($

J IILJ 3 6 7 Feb. 5, 1963 1.. POVLACS APPARATUS FOR max/acmeCOMPRESSIBLE DISC-LIKE ARTICLES Filed Oct. 2, 1959 8 Sheets-Sheet 4/////////////fl/i all" INVEN Lawrence. Poo

Attorney Feb. 5, 1963 g L. POVLACS APPARATUS FOR PACKAGING COMPRESSIBLEDISC-LIKE ARTICLES Filed Oct. 2, 1959 8 Sheets-Sheet 5 1.0 d h I I bTweegers Bmkm Throw Tuba 5% (N065 Gvipphg Space.

I Tubed Goods Spo-ce j 3 be to En'ier Tube Qosed Tuoe 15 to EntzrTube.

QNVENTOR L ranch: PoulacS 5 Wm a Airorney L. POVLACS Feb. 5, 1963APPARATUS FOR PACKAGING COMPRESSIBLE DISC-LIKE ARTICLES 8 Sheets-Sheet 6Filed Oct. 2, 1959 h mv l li 4f Z \NVENTOR Lawrence Pmflaqs 5 WW L.POVLACS Feb. 5', 1963 APPARATUS FOR PACKAGING COMPRESSIBLE DISC-LIKEARTICLES a Sheets- Sheet '1 Filed Oct.- 2, 1959 Attorney Feb. 5, 1963 L.POVLACS 3,076,297

APPARATUS FOR PACKAGING COMPRESSIBLE DISC-LIKE ARTICLES INVENTORLbwrence P001 acs Niamey United States Patent 3,076,297 APPARATUS FORPACK GING COMPRESGIBLE DISC-LIKE ARTICLES Lawrence Povlacs, Akron,hio,.assignor to The Akwell Corporation, Akron, 0hio, a corporationofDelaware Filed 0ct..2, 1959,.Ser, No. 844,105 26 Claims. ((11. 53-24)This invention relates to apparatus for packaging articles, andinparticular relates to a machine for packaging yieldingly compressibledisc-like articles.

Prior Patent No. 2',13'4;0'49, in which'applicant herein was aco-inventor, discloses a packaging machine wherein disc-like elasticarticles are withdrawn from a vertical stack thereof and deposited in apaper tube by a reciprocating gripper. This structure, however, wasfound to be unsatisfactory in commercial packaging of thin rubberarticles for a number of reasons. In the first place, the articles,being fed by a continuous conveyor belt, had a tendency to become tiltedor otherwise bunched out of vertical alignment in the stack, so thatfrequently the bottom articles did not move into proper position to begripped by the reciprocating gripper. Moreover, the continuous belt fedthe articles in hap-. hazard manner, not-in time with operation of thegripper. In the second place, the paper tubes were required tobeproduced by separate operations and to be manually positioned in themachine. Difiiculty was encountered .in inserting the paper tubes inproper timing with movement of the gripper, and frequentlythe papertubes were crushed orotherwise made unsatisfactory for etiicientoperation of the packaging machine. Other known prior art devices forpackaging compressible disclike articles were found to be unsatisfactoryfor similar reasons.

One object of the present invention is to provide a packaging machine ofthe character described, including improved means for uniformly feedinga continuous succession of the articles toward a given stopped positionof each successive leading article, whereby there is always an articlepresented in such stopped position for timed engagement by said gripperwhile reciprocated at a substantially high rate of speed.

Another object of the invention is to provide improved means for'forminga succession of tubular wrappers from continuous material, andpositioning the same in timed relation for rapid insertion of thearticles therein by said reciprocating gripper.

.Another object of the invention is to provide improved means forconveying a continuous succession of disc-like articles of elasticmaterial in continuous relationship without the same faltering,separating, or bunchin-g'up.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved vibratorydevice for conveying a continuous succession of articles, includingmeans for holding the articles flatwise against vibrating guide surfaceswithout substantial tendencyto reverse the movement of the articles.

Another object of .the invention is =to'provide a unitary device forautomatically making tubular wrappers from continuous sheet material,and inserting compressible disc-like articles in the same at a rapidrate.

Other objects of the invention will be manifest from the following briefdescription and the accompanying drawings.

Of the accompanying drawings:

FIGURE .1 is a top plan view, partly broken away, of a packaging machineembodying the features of the invention.

,FIGURE 2 is an enlarged front elevation partly broken away and insection, of vibratory conveyor means for 3,076,297 1 ted ,Felh. 1963 2feeding a continuous succession of articles for packaging, substantiallyas viewed on the line 22 of FIG- URE 1 FIGURE 3 .is an enlarged rearelevation of the machine, partly broken away, substantially as viewedfrom the line 3-13 of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 4 is a semi-diagrammatic top plan view of eentralrart f h ma h ne n ing he ub n an .v wrapping mechanisms otherwise shown on a smaller"scale in FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged vertical cross-section, taken substantially .onthe linev5 '5 off FIGURE 4, and illustrating the wrapping mechanism.

GU '6 s a u t n ar d e c l cros ec o taken substantially on the, line 6.6 of FIGURE 5 to show a tweezer reciprocating means.

FIGURE 7'; is a similar view taken substantially on the line 7-7 ofFIGURE 5 to show a tweezeropening and closing means.

FIGURE 8 is an enlarged rear :section partly broken away, of a tubeforming mechanism substantially as viewed at the pp nt a port n of. FGURE.

FIGURE 9 is .a further enlarged, fragmentary vertical cross-section ofthe tube moving and sealing device of FI V FIGURE 10 is a still furtherenlarged cross-section, taken substantially on the line 1t l.10 ofFIGURE FIGURE 1.1 isa semi-diagrammatic vertical cross-sect tiontransversely through the machine to show the driving connections forvarious mechanisms thereof.

FIGURE 12 is a'fragmentary top plan .view. of a modification f einvention ine n i s mpt means e sorting wrapped goods from emptywrappers. v

FIGURE 13 is a side elevation Ofl lhfi same, as viewed from the right ofGU ,2,.Pa t1y' w en away and in section.

Referring to FIGURES 1 and 3, there is illustrated a machine forpackaging disc-shaped articles, namely rolled thin rubber pouches orfinger cots. The machine i n-. eludes an article feeding mechanism A, atube or wrapper ng mechanism T, and n article w app m ek, anism W. Thesemechanisms maybe, .in duplicate at opposite sides of the lateral center.line of the machine, for doubling the production of wrapped articles,.asbest Shown in p in IGUR a t ou hh y a a apte to e op t by a sin le. cr cal po uni M (s G E F r nvenie c on y n s de the ma:

chine will be described.

Eachsarticle feeding means A may include a resilicnb. y t rt e pplyainer 15 a ing a ettem a a cy i ri l al 17- V hrat n me ns, of nyn substn i l y as dis losed in p o Pa en No. 2,609,914, dated September9, 1952,is provided to feed o l r onhy ies P from th con ner, n s ngle file, upa spiraltrack 18 around the wall '17, andalong a conn ing guid h n 19, et nd ng ans ly o aid wal A str gh e en n or c ntinua i 2.0 of said guidec a ne m y be pp red n n et al v brator unit 22 of known type, such asdisclosed in prior Pa n N 23 .8 d ted October 94 h ibrator 'in turn benz supported on. a po 1 for e and n bs ruc ed vi io o t h n Th s ar anement is adapted toprovideforward unidirectional linear movement of thearticles P, in contacting edge-tmedge {Q13}, tionshi-p along channel 20,as indicated by arrows in FIGURE 1. [Post 21 is shown supported on ashockabsorbing table 23 (see FIGURE 3). A spacefl19a may 3 wall a of thechannel 20, as shown in FIGURE 2, an elongated metal or like bar orelement 24 may be supported to have a flat bottom edge 25 thereof inspaced parallelism with respect to said bottom wall. The minimumclearance, however, should be sufficient to permit unretarded forwardmovement of the articles P toward stop engagement of the leading articlewith the trailing side of stop means comprising spaced, peripherallygrooved, idler rollers 26, 26.

Should the bar 24 be afiixed directly on the channel portion 20, thelatter would vibrate the bar in a manner tending to reverse the movementof the articles. To prevent such reversing action the bar 24 may beindependently supported on spaced arms 27 and 28, vertically adjustablymounted on the upper ends of upright-s 29 and 30, respectively,supported on non-vibrating parts of the equipment.

Movement of the articles between the vibratory influence of conveyorchannel 19 and conveyor extension 20 may be enhanced by provision ofspaced air-blast means 32, 32, having nozzles 33 continuouslyconcentrating jets of air against the articles P, thereby to urge thesame forwardly of the container 15. These air jets also are effective tohold the articles flatwise for free passage under the bar 24.

Simultaneously with movement of the articles P, and parallel to suchmovement, as shown in FIGURES 1 and 3, the wrapper tubing or formingdevice T is intermittently operable to feed a succession of tubularwrappers 36, 36 to spaced chambers 37, 37, defined by a series oftooth-like lugs 38, 38 of a continuous flexible belt or link chainconveyor 39. This conveyor is supported between spaced front and rearsprockets 40 and 41, rotatably mounted on a housing 42 on a framework43. Belt conveyor 39 is intermittently operable, in a manner to bedescribed later, to advance successively deposited wrappers 36 apredetermined distance, toward stopped positions of successive wrappersin alignment with the opening or space between the stop rollers 26 ofthe wrapping mechanism W, at the leading side of the stop rollers.

Referring particularly to FIGURES l and 3, the tubing device T mayinclude a roll 44 of narrow strip material 45, such as paper, which isguided by suitably arranged rollers 46, 47, 48 and 49, to pass over anadhesive applying disc 50, and through a tube forming unit 51 to acutting unit 52. Roller 46 may be carried by an arm 53, pivoted on theframework 43 to be gravitationally supported by the paper strip 45 as itcomes from roll 44, thereby to keep the strip under tension. Each timethe respective belt conveyor 39 is stopped, the paper strip 45 may beintermittently drawn a predetermined distance, equal to the'length ofthe wrappers 36, as by means of oppositely driven rollers 54 and 55,between which the formed tubing 45a is frictionally engaged in a mannerto be described later. Roller 55 is driven by being keyed on a suitablyjournalled shaft 57 (see FIGURE 3), which is intermittently rotated afraction of a revolution, by means of a one-way ratcheting device 58having an arm 59 which is reciprocated by a link 60. The oppositepaper-driving roller 54 is driven by means of meshing gears 61 and 62,keyed on a ratchet driven shaft 57 and on a shaft 64 of the roller 54,respectively (see FIGURE 1). Link 60 is reciprocated correspondingly toreciprocate arm 59, by having its other end connected to an arm 65,keyed on a shaft 66 which is intermittently oscillated by a roller 65a,on an extension 65b of arm 65, engaging a side cam 67 on a continuouslydriven cam shaft 67a driven by a motor driven shaft 670, through a chaindrive 67b (see FIGURES 3 and 9). Shaft 670 is driven by continuouslyoperating motor unit M, through a belt drive 67d. For varying the givenlength of the wrappers 36, and hence the length of the intermittentmovement of strip 45, the connection between arm 59 and link 60 may be apin 59a adjustable to fixed positions in a slot 60a.

Intermittent, progressive rotation of shaft 64, as described above, isutilized to provide like progressive rotation to the adhesive-applyingdisc 50, through a chain drive 64a. Disc 50 picks up liquid adhesivefrom a tank 68, within which it turns, whereby contact of the peripheraledge of the disc with the underside of the simultaneously moving paperstrip is effective to provide a continuous narrow coating of tackyadhesive to the paper. Container 68 is shown adjustably mounted at 69,for varying the location of the coating (not shown) with respect to theedge of the strip.

The tube-forming unit 51 may include a pivotally mounted shoe element 71which tapers forwardly at 71a with respect to the moving paper strip tohold the same against a fixedly supported, forwardly extendingtubeforming plate 72 having upturned side portions 73, 73, which curvegradually to a tubular end 74. Thus, the cooperating portions of shoe 71(see FIGURES 3 and 8) and plate 72 are effective to form the edges ofthe moving strip 45 upwardly to final tubular form, with overlappingedges, upon passing from the tubular end 74. The intermittently movedtube 45a is thereby formed around, and is supported by, an integralcontinuation 71b of the tapered portion 71a of the shoe, said extensionconstituting a mandrel which extends between the rollers 54 and 55 andthrough a slot or recess 76a in a conveyor guard plate 76 to terminatein the plane of the inner face thereof. Mandrel 71b, with paper tube 45athereon, may be supported between a pair of vertically spaced idlerrollers 71c and 71d adjacent the plate 76. At the point where the paperdriving rollers 54 and 55 come together against opposite central wallportions of the tubing 54a, the mandrel 71b, which is of flattened,ovate cross-section corresponding to desired flattened tubular shape ofthe Wrappers 36, is provided with an elongated slot 71a, to receive theopposing edges of the rollers as best shown in FIGURES 8 to 10. Thus,the oppositely rotating rollers 54 and 5S frictionally engage oppositewall portions of the tubing 45a in the bight between the same, andthereby move the tubing forwardly as described, and at the same timeadhere the overlapped edges of the tubing. The ends of the slot 71e areshown tapered to facilitate passage of the walls of the tubing betweenthe driving rollers 54 and 55, and the forward tapered portion iseffective to separate the opposite walls of the tubing and preventpossible adhesion thereof due to an excess of the adhesive material.

Guard plate 76 is mounted in spaced relation to conveyor 39, so that arotating disc cutter 77 may be reciprocated through the tubing 45a, in avertical plane passing between the guard plate 76 and the conveyor, whenmovement of the conveyor and of the tubing 45a are simultaneouslystopped, With the leading end of the tubing received in an alignedchamber 37 of the conveyor 39, against a stop plate 76c. Accordingly,with each downward stroke of the rotating cutter 77, a wrapper 36 ofpredetermined length will be cut and retained in a correspondingconveyor chamber 37. A longitudinally U-shaped bar 38a, gravitationallyresting on lugs 38 along the upper reach of belt 39, retains thewrappers properly positioned in the chambers 37. The end of the mandrel71b, supported on the lower edge of slot 76a, may serve as a fixed shearmember for the cutter.

For operating the disc-cutter 77, the same may be affixed on a shaft 78,rotatably mounted on the free end of a bracket 80, pivoted on a shaft 81in a fixed lug 82 (see FIGURES 1 and 3). Bracket 80 is adapted to beintermittently raised and lowered by a link 83 pivoted thereto at itsupper end, and extending downwardly to pivotal connection with an arm 84on a shaft 85, intermittently reciprocated by a cam 67 on continuouslyrotated cam shaft 67a, each time the conveyor 39 and tubing 45a aremomentarily stopped. Shaft 81 is continuously rotated by a chain drive86 between the same and the shaft 78, which is inturndriven by anelectric motor 87, through a chain drive 88.

For successively positioning articles P, fromrvibrating conveyor 20, inwrappers 36 on belt conveyor 39, particular reference is made to.FIGURES 1 and 3 to 7. Slidably :mounted on a top plate 91 of housing 42may be a slide :92 (see FIGURES 4 to 6), which is reciprocated towardand from the spaced stop rollers 26, 26 (see FIG- URES 1, 2, 4 and 5),as by means of a block.93 extending through an elongated slot 94 in topplate 91, and havingaroller 95 on the lower endthereof received in acontinuous scam track 96 of a continuously rotated barrel cam 97,afiixed on driven shaft 98. For continuously rotating the cam 97,onerevolution with eachintermittent cycle of operation .ofbelt conveyor39, the shaft 98 is correspondingly rotated by the cam shaft 67a,through a chaindrive 99 (seeF'IGURES .8 and 9).

The belt conveyor 39may be intermittently progressively moved, .forpurposes previously described, as by means of at Geneva gear device 100,between the cam shaft 67a and an intermittently driven Geneva shaft 101,on which is keyed a sprocket 102 to drive the conveyor belt or chain 39'(see FIGURES 3 and 11).

That is, the slide 92 is intermittently reciprocated toward and from thestop rollers 26 each time the belt conveyor 39 is .stopped, as describedabove, with a cut wrapper 36 in a chamber 37 previously indexed intoalignment with thespace between said stop rollers, and with the forwardedge of the leading article in stop position against the same (seeFIGURES l, 4 and 5 Referring now to FIGURES 1, 4, 5 and 7, affixed ontop of slide 92 may be a block 103 which carries elongatedarticle-gripping tweezers 104, extending horizontally to be in alignmentwith the space between rollers 26 and the forward edge of said leadingarticle. An upper finger 1050f the tweezers is shown as being relativelyfixed on the block 103, while the lower finger 106 is pivoted on saidblock, as indicated at 107 in FIGURE 7, to be movable toward and from aclosed or article-gripping position with respect to thefinger 105,against the action of a suitable compression spring 108 (see FIGURE 5).To this end, the lower finger 6 is supported by a roller 109 on apin110, which is vertically reciprocably mounted through a bushing 110aafiixed in'housing plate 91. Pin 110. is vertically predeterminatelyyieldingly reciprocated with each horizontal reciprocation of slide 92,as by means of a cam 111 on said shaft 98, engaging a roller 112 on thelower end of the pin. Yieldingresistance to movement of pin 110 isattained by a compressionv spring 110b engaged between top plate 91 andprojections 1100, 110cafiixed in the pin 110 to'ride in slots 110d inthe lower end of bushing 110a. Thiscam'operated slide 92 is operable inthe opposite direction for alternate actuation of lefthandartiele-wrapping mechanism W, while corresponding conveyor 39isstopped.

.As best shown and described in FIGURE 7, thecarn -111'.is progressivelyoperable, through movement of pin 110 and roller 112, first to hold thefingers 105 and 106 closed as the slide 92 moves toward the stop rollers26, to permit the fingers to pass through an aligned wrapper "36; :next,to open the fingers after the slightly inturned tip ends 113 thereof(see FIGURE 7 havepassed'through and beyond the aligned wrapperto spanthe nearest edge of said leading article P; next to close said fingerswith said tip ends embracing the rolled or rounded edge of the article P(see chain-dotted lines at right of FIGURE 55); then to withdraw the sogripped article, thereby to compress the same to compact cross-sectionbetween the rollers 26, for centered reception within the wrapper .36;and finally, asthe slide moves toward a centered or neutral position,toopen the fingers and release the com pressed article within thewrapper, as shown in chaindotted .lines in FIGURE 5. During saidarticle-inserting operation, wrapper 36 isheld against lateral movement:fromjthe respective chamber 37, by means "of stop plate 6 extensions76c, 76c (FIGURE 5 'Forwardly'openvended slots 76f in extensions 76e,aligned with the positioned wrapper, permit passage of-the tweezers .104and the respective article P therethrough, and also permit subsequentforwardmovement of the packaged article.

The article-gripping action of both tweezers 104 may be made smooth andsteady by provision of compression springs 114, 114 on fixed parts ,ofthe machine, and adapted to be yieldingly engaged byflange portions 115,115 on the block 103, as the latter is reciprocated for alternateinsertion .of compressed articles P in wrappers 36 of one or other ofthe belt conveyors 39.

In operationrof the machine, disc-like articles P, such as rolled thinrubber articles, previously loaded into container 15, are continuouslyvibrated by the vibratory means beneath the bottom wall 16. This causesa continuous succession of the articles to vibrate'or walk up the spiraltrack 18, and along the horizontal guide channel 19 (seearrowsin FIG.1). Continuousjets of compressed-air from nozzles 33 assist movement ofthe articles from channel 19 to channel extension 20, and into theinfluence of the unidirectional vibratory action applied to the articlesby continuously operated vibrator 22. The non-vibratory bar 24 retainsthe articles in flatwise relation without tendency to reverse themovement thereof, as previously described. This results in a pluralityof the articles being maintained in continuous edge-to-edge successionwith the leading articlein stop position against the stop rollers 26of'the wrapper applying mechanism W (see FIGURES 1 and 2). A substantialnumber of articles in said plurality thereof will also remain stopped,until the tweezer 104 extends forwardly and pulls the leading articlebetween the grooved stop rollers 26, in which instance said plurality ofarticles moves up to immediate contact of the next leading article withstoprollers 26.

While this is happening, the tube-forming mechanism T will have beenintermittently operated to form the strip material 45 into continuoustubing 45a each time the right hand conveyor 39 is stopped (see FIGURE1), and the intermittently advanced tubing 45:: will have been cut intopredetermined length within successive chambers 37 by-the rotating,reciprocating cutter 77. Thatis, a number of progressively advancedchambers 37 will contain wrappers 36, includingone already in alignmentwith the leading article P against stop rollers 26.

Accordingly, each time the right hand .belt conveyor 39 is stopped, theslide 92 will be momentarily reciprocated toadvance the tweezers 104through the aligned wrapper 36, as described above,.to grasp the leadingedge of the article and collapse or compress it betweenthe grooved edgesof the two idler rollers26, and toldeposit the compressed .articlewithinthe respective wrapper. ,In other .words, .each time the righthand belt conveyor is momentarily stopped a wrapper 36 is deposited in achamber 37, simultaneously with deposit of article P in a previouslydeposited and progressivelyadvanced wrapper 36. With each. forwardadvance of the .belt conveyor 39 a previously wrapped article will fallfrom its chamber 37 by gravity into a container C, .as the conveyor.belt turns downwardly about the forward belt pulley 41.

The corresponding.tubing and wrapping mechanisms at the left of themachine are alternately and conversely operated.

Thus has been provided a unitary machine which rapidly and automaticallysorts articles to be packaged, forms and cuts wrappersfrom continuousstrip material, and inserts the articles in the wrappers. The apparatusis extremely economical to use, because manual operations have beenobviated, and because the prior art clefects have been eliminated. Ithas beenfound in actual practice, for example, that the combinedoperations described can be accomplished at each-side of the presentmachine at-a rate of upwardsof one hundred forty four pieces per minute.

Referring to FIGURES 12 and 13, in conjunction with the wrappermechanism W of FIGURE 1, it has been found that occasionally a wrapper36 does not receive an article P within the same. When this happens theempty wrapper may be carried forwardly by the conveyor belt 39, eitherto interfere with insertion of a replacement wrapper in thecorresponding chamber .37, as previously described, or to be droppedinto some other working part of the machine. To obviate this difiicultya sorting mechanism S is provided, which will separately remove filledand empty wrappers '36 from the chambers 37, and sort the same intoseparate receptacles.

Accordingly, at the forward end of each conveyor belt 39 there may befixedly mounted a plate 117 which is suitably slotted at 118 to havefiat side portions 119, 119 extending horizontally at opposite sides ofthe upper reach of the conveyor belt, just above the rear conveyorsprocket 41 (see FIGURE 1). A forward portion 120 of plate 117 is bentat a downward inclination from the forward end of the slot 118, tointegral connection with the top edge of a rear wall 121 of an inclinedarticle-receiving chute 122 which carries the wrapped goods to asuitable receptacle (not shown). Afiixed on the side portions 119 may beangle members 123, 123 providing spaced upturned cam tracks or flanges124, 124 at opposite sides of conveyor belt 39, to have straight upperedges .125 of the tracks in substantial alignment with the bottoms ofthe wrappers 36 in chambers 37 of the straight upper reach of theconveyor belt. As the belt 39 moves the wrapped articles P forwardly theopposite ends of the articles projecting from the wrappers (see FIGURE12) will ride over the edges 125 of the cam tracks, thereby to lift thewrapped articles from the respective conveyor chambers 37 and to dropthem onto the inclined plate surface 120 from which they slide into thechute 122, as the chambered portions of the conveyor belt 39 drop awayand around the sprocket 41 (see FIGURE 13). The forward ends of the camtracks 124 may be downwardly inclined, as indicated at 126, tofacilitate forward movement of the articles P, as shown in chaindottedlines in FIGURE 13. The rear ends of the cam tracks also may be inclinedor chamfered to facilitate movement of the articles onto the tracks.Empty wrappers 36, being shorter than the space between the cam tracks124, will pass between the same. As the chambered portions of theconveyor belt 39 follow arcuately around the sprocket 41, the emptywrappers also will move in an arcuate path, past a continuous jet ofcompressed air from a nozzle 127, connected to a suitable source of airsupply (not shown). Nozzle 127 may be arranged at a suitable upwardinclination to direct the air jet upwardly within the empty wrapper atits passes and thereby to blow the wrapper from the conveyor belt andinto a chute 128 mounted over a suitable scrap receptacle (not shown).An upturned lip 129 on plate 117, at the forward end of slot 118 isdesigned to permit passage of properly wrapped goods P down inclinedportions 126 of the cam tracks 124, but also to prevent accidentalremoval of empty Wrappers from the chambers thereof before reaching theinfluence of the air jet from nozzle 127.

Other modifications of the invention may be resorted to withoutdeparting from the spirit thereof or the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. An article packaging device, comprising a receptacle for receivingdisc-shaped compressible articles to be packaged; a chamber forpositioning an open-ended tubular wrapper for said article;reciprocating gripper means including relatively movable grippingfingers mounted to move forwardly through said wrapper and to depositone of said articles in said wrapper on the return stroke, and meanscoordinated with reciprocation of said gripper means to close saidfingers before entering said wrapper, opening and then closing thefingers at the forward end of the stroke to grip an article, and againopening the fingers at the return end of the stroke to release said gripon the article.

2. An article packaging device, comprising stop means having opposedarticle-compressing portions thereon defining an opening therebetween, afirst conveyor means for feeding a continuous succession of compressiblearticles in edge-to-edge relationship to a stop position of the leadingarticle against said stop means, a second conveyor means having spacedarticle-receiving chambers therein, means for supplying tubular wrappersto said chambers, means for progressively moving said second conveyormeans to effect alignment of successive wrappers in said chambers withsaid opening and leading article, and progressively operable means forfeeding said leading article between said article-compressing portionsto compress the article and to deposit the same in compressed conditionwithin the aligned wrapper.

3. .An article packaging device, comprising stop means having opposedarticle-compressing portions thereon defining an opening therebetween, afirst conveyor means for feeding a continuous succession of compressiblearticles in edge-to-edge relationship to a stop position of the leadingarticle against said stop means, a second conveyor means having spacedarticle-receiving chambers therein, means for supplying tubular wrappersto said chambers, means for progressively moving said second conveyormeans to effect alignment of successive wrappers in said chambers withsaid opening and leading article, and progressively operable means forfeeding said leading article between said article-compressing portionsto compress the article and to deposit the same in compressed conditionWithin the aligned wrapper, said first conveyor means including a guidemember having a horizontal guide surface, resilient means for supportingsaid guide member for unobstructed vibration, and means for vibratingsaid member for unidirectional linear movement of articles along theguide surface toward said stop means.

4. An article packaging device, comprising stop means having opposedarticle-compressing portions thereon defining an opening therebetween, afirst conveyor means for feeding a continuous succession of compressiblearticles in edge-to-edge relationship to a stop position of the leadingarticle against said stop means, a second conveyor means having spacedarticle-receiving chambers therein, means for supplying tubular wrappersto said chambers, means for progressively moving said second conveyormeans to effect alignment of successive wrappers in said chambers withsaid opening and leading article, and progressively operable means forfeeding said leading article between said article-compressing portionsto compress the article and to deposit the same in compressed conditionwithin the aligned wrapper, said first conveyor means including a guidemember having a horizontal guide surface, resilient means for supportingsaid member for unobstructed vibration, means for vibrating said memberfor unidirectional linear movement of articles along the guide surface,an elongated element coextending above said guide surface and engageableby the moving articles to retain them in position, and non-vibratorymeans for supporting said element whereby vibration of the memher willnot be transmitted to the element to create a tendency for the articlesto reverse the direction of movement thereof.

5. An article packaging machine, comprising a first conveyor for movinga succession of articles, stop means for stop engagement therewith ofthe leading articles on said conveyor and having spacedarticle-compressing portions, a second conveyor provided with spacedarticlercceiving chambers, means for intermittently advancing saidsecond conveyor to position successive said chambers in cooperation withsaid stop means, a continuous source of strip material, meanscoordinated with intermittent movement of said second conveyor forforming said strip material into tubular form and intermittently feedingleading end portions of the same into successive said chambers, meanssynchronized with intermittent movement of the strip material and saidsecond conveyor for severing said leading end portions of saidcontinuous tubular material into wrappers of predeterminedlength in saidsuccessive chambers, and reciprocating means synchronized with saidpositioning of the article receiving chambers operable to drawsuccessive leading articles from said first conveyor to compress thearticles between said article-compressing portions and to deposit thecompressed articles within said wrappers in the progressively advancedchambers.

6. An article packaging device, comprising means for supplying acontinuous succession of articles, means for intermittently moving acontinuous strip of flexible material and simultaneously forming thesame into continuous tubing having overlapped adhering edges, cuttingmeans for severingsaid continuous tubing into wrappers of predeterminedlengths, and intermittently operable means for depositing successivesaid articles in successive said wrappers, said means for formingincluding a forming member and a forming element between which saidstripmaterial is fed, said element having an elongated extension constitutinga tubing mandrel provided with an opening therethrough, said member andelement having co operating guide portions for holding the moving stripto tubular for-m about said tubing mandrel, said means for moving saidstrip including a pair of intermittently'op- 'positely rotated rollershaving cooperating peripheral edges received in said openingfromopposite sides of said mandrel frictionally to engage and compressopposite walls of the formed tubing together in the bight between therollers and thereby to urge the tubing forwardly along the mandrel apredetermined distance with each said intermittent rotation of therollers.

7. A method of packaging compressible articles in tubular wrappers,comprising the steps of moving a succession of the articles flatwise inedge-to-edge'relationship to a stop position of the successive leadingarticles, while simultaneously 'moving a succession of tubular wrappersinto astop position in alignment with an edge of successive leadingarticles, and while momentarily retaining said successive Wrappers andarticles in said alignment compressing and drawing the articles .incompressed condition into the respective alignedwrappers.

8. Amethod of packaging compressible disc-like articles in tubularwrappers, comprising the steps of moving a succession of the articles.fiatwise in edge-to-edge relationship, simultaneously progressivelyforming a strip of sheet material into tubular form and cutting theleading end of. the tubing into tubular'wrappers, progressively movingsuccessive said'cut wrappers into momentarily stopped position inalignment with an edge of successive leading articles, and compressingand drawing successive leading articles in compressed'condition into therespective aligned wrappers while in' momentarily stoppedposition.

-9. Article conveying apparatus, comprising a continuous .conveyorhaving spaced chambers opening'outwardly of the conveyor and adapted tocontain a succession of tubular wrappers and articles therein with endsof the articles protruding freely from the ends of the wrappers and thechambers, means for guiding said conveyor to move the .arti-clesalong ahorizontal path toward a'path of downwardly divergent movement of theconveyor, said chambers being adapted to receive articles therein withopposite ends protruding freely, relatively fixedly spaced cam tracksalong laterally opposite sides of the conveyor for downward engagementthereof by protruding ends of the wrapped articles and thereby to beumoved along the same by the conveyor, said cam tracks having portionsengageable' by the moving articles to lift the same outwardly andupwardly of the chambers, and meansfor removing the upwardly liftedarticles from the cam tracks, the spacing of said cam tracks beinggreater than the lengths of the wrappers, and thereby to allow passageof possible empty wrappers between the cam tracks without being liftedthereby from the respective chambers, whereby suchempty wrappers aremoved by theconveyor along said path of downwardly divergent movement ofthe conveyor.

10. Article conveyingapparatus, comprising a continuous conveyor havingspaced chambers opening outwardly of the conveyor and adapted to containa succession of tubular wrappers and articles therein with ends of thearticlesprotrud-ing freely from the ends of-the wrappers and thechambers, means for guiding said conveyor towmove the same aiong ahorizontal path toward a path of downwardly divergent movement-of theconveyor, fixed cam means along laterally opposite sides of the conveyorfordownwand engagement thereof by the protruding ends of thewrappedarticles to lift the same outwardly of the chambers with continuedmovement of-the conveyor, means for removing the upwardly liftedarticles from the cam tracks, the spacing of said cam tracks beinggreater than the lengths of the wrappers, and thereby to allow passageof possible empty wrappers therebetween between the cam tracks withoutbeing lifted from the respective chambers, wherebysuch empty wrappersare moved by the conveyor along said path of downwardly divergentmovement of the conveyor, and ejection means for removing said emptywrappers from said chambers at a point along said path of downwardlydivergent movement of the conveyor.

11. Article conveying apparatus as set forth'in claim 10, said ejectionmeans including a jet of pressure fluid directed toward'the path of theempty wrappers.

12. Article conveying apparatus, comprising a continnous conveyor havingspaced chambers opening outwardly of the conveyorand adapted to containa succession of tubular wrappers and articles therein with endsth-ereof'protruding freely from the-ends of the wrappers and thechambers, means for guiding said conveyor to move the same along ahorizontal path toward a path' of downwardly divergent movement of theconveyor, fixed cam means along laterally oppositesides of the conveyorhaving portions for engagement by the protruding ends of the wrappedarticles as they are moved by the conveyor to lift the wrapped articlesoutwardly of the cham- 'bers, means for removing the lifted articlesfromthe cam tracks, the spacing of said cam tracks being such as toallow passage of occasional empty wrappers therebetwe'en without liftingthe same from the chambers thereof,

whereby the empty wrappers are moved in a pathdivergently of themovement of the wrapped articles on the cam tracks, and ejection meansfor removing the empty wrappers from said chambers at a point alongsaidpath :of divergent movement of the empty wrappers, said ejectionmeans including a jet of pressure fluiddirected'toward the path of theempty wrappers, said jet of air at the point of contact with theinteriors ofthe wrappers being at an inclination to the general axis ofthe same.

13. A vibratory conveyor for moving a succession of articles in givendirection, comprising an elongated guide member having a substantiallyhorizontalconveyor surface and laterally spaced article guidingportions,-res'ilient "means for supporting said member for unobstructedvibration, means fiorvibrating said member for unidirectional linearmovement of articles along the conveyor surface, means at a trailing endof said member for feedstop portions at the leading end of said conveyorsurface for retaining the lead article and thereby to stop forwardmovement thereof andlikewise a series of contacting articlesbehind thelead article, reciprocablemeans for with drawing successive leadarticles vbetween said stop portions, an elongated element coextendingabove said conamaze"! veyor surface, said element terminating in spacedrelation to said stop means and having a lower edge thereof spaced abovethe articles including the lead article but engageable with articlestending to be vibrated out of place and thereby to retain them flatwisein single file on said conveyor surface, non-vibratory means forsupporting said element whereby vibration of the member will not betransmitted to the element to create a tendency for the articles toreverse the direction of movement thereof, withdrawal of successive saidlead articles from between said stop portions thereby allowingsuccessive trailing articles to be progressively vibrated toward thestop means.

14. A vibratory conveyor as set forth in claim 13, said iower edge ofthe element being at a forwardly convergent inclination to said guidesurface.

15. An article packaging device, comprising a progres sively movableconveyor having spaced retaining means for receiving open ended tubularwrappers for the articles,

relatively fixed guide means for containing a succession of compressiblearticles, spaced stop means at a leading end of said guide means,vibratory means for vibrating said guide means to move said successionof articles to a stop position of the leading articles against said stopmeans without bunching the articles, means for progressively movingtubular wrappers into alignment with successive said leading articles,and reciprocable means for progressively drawing successive said leadingarticles between said spaced stop means to compress the articles anddeposit the compressed articles in the aligned wrappers.

16. An article packaging device, comprising a progressively movableconveyor having spaced retaining means for receiving open ended tubularwrappers for the articles, relatively fixed guide means for containing asuccession of compressible articles, spaced stop means at a leading endof said guide means, vibratory means for vibrating said guide means tomove said succession of articles to a stop position of the leadingarticles against said stop means without bunching the articles, meansfor progressively moving tubular wrappers into alignment with successivesaid leading articles, reciprocable means for progressively drawingsuccessive said leading articles between said spaced stop means tocompress the articles and to deposit the compressed articles in thealigned wrappers, said stop means including spaced members havingopposed guide portions between which the articles are adapted to bedrawn to compress the same, said means for depositing including anintermittently reciprocable elongated gripper reciprocable through eachprogressively aligned wrapper to grip the article.

17. An article packaging device, comprising a progressively movableconveyor having spaced retaining means for receiving open ended tubularwrappers for the articles, relatively fixed guide means for containing asuccession of compressible articles, spaced stop means at a leading endof said guide means, vibratory means for vibrating said guide means tomove said succession of articles to a stop position of the leadingarticles against said stop means without bunching the articles, meansfor progressively moving tubular wrappers into alignment with successivesaid leading articles, and reciprocable means for progressively drawingsuccessive said leading articles between said spaced stop means tocompress the articles and to deposit the compressed articles in thealigned wrappers, said guide means including a guide member having ahorizontal guide surface, resilient means for supporting said member forunobstructed vibration, means for vibrating said member forunidirectional linear movement of articles along the guide surface, anelongated element coextending above said conveyor Surface and having alower edge thereof spaced above the articles but engageable witharticles tending to be vibrated out of place to retain them in singlefile, non-vibratory means for supporting said element whereby vibrationof the member will not be transmitted to the element to create atendency for the articles to reverse the direction of movement thereof.

18. An article packaging device, comprising a progressively movableconveyor having spaced retaining means for receiving open ended tubularwrappers for the articles, relatively fixed guide means for containing asuccession of compressible articles, a spaced stop means at a leadingend of said guide means, vibratory means for vibrating said guide meansto move said succession of articles to stop position of the leadingarticles against said stop means without bunching the articles, meansfor progressively moving tubular wrappers into alignment with successivesaid leading articles, and reciprocable means for progressively drawingsuccessive said leading articles between said spaced stop means tocompress the articles and to deposit the compressed articles in thealigned wrappers, said guide means including a guide member having ahorizontal-guide surrace, resilient means for supporting said member forunobstructed vibration, means for vibrating said member forunidirectional linear movement of articles along the guide surface, anelongated element coextending above said conveyor surface and having alower edge thereof spaced above the articles but engageable witharticles tending to be vibrated out of place and thereby to retain themin single-file relationship, non-vibratory means for supporting saidelement whereby vibration of the member will not be transmitted to theelement to create a tendency for the articles to reverse the directionof movement thereof, said element having an article engaging surface ata forwardly convergent inclination to said guide surface.

19. An article packaging device, comprising stop means havingtransversely opposite trailing and leading sides and having laterallyspaced article-collapsing portions thereon defining a spacetherebetween, unidirectional vibratory means for moving a series ofcollapsible articles transversely toward stop engagement with saidspaced article-collapsing portions at the trailing side of the stopmeans, means for positioning a tubular Wrapper at the leading side ofsaid stop means in alignment with said space, and gripping meansreciprocable through the aligned wrapper and said space to grip thearticle and then to withdraw the same between said spaced portions tocollapse the article and deposit the same in collapsed condition withinthe aligned wrapper.

20. An article packaging device as set forth in claim 19, includingmeans for supplying a succession of articles to said vibratory means,means for forming continuous strip material into a succession of lengthsof tubular wrappers, and means synchronized with reciprocation of saidgripping means for depositing successive said articles in successivesaid aligned tubular wrappers.

21. An article packaging device a set forth in claim 19, including meansfor feeding said articles to said vibratory means, intermittentlyoperable means for forming continuous strip material into a successionof tubular wrappers, and intermittent means synchronized with saidintermittently operable means for depositing successive said articles insuccessive said aligned tubular wrappers, said means for formingincluding means for applying adhesive along an edge of said strip, guideportions engaging and turning opposed edges of the strip to overlap thesame with said adhesive therebetween, and means for pressing saidoverlapping edges to adhere the same.

22. An article packaging device as set forth in claim 19, includingmeans for supplying a succession of articles to said vibratory means,means for intermittently moving a continuous strip of flexible materialand simultaneously forming the same into continuous tubing havingoverlapped adhering edges, cutting means for severing said continuoustubing into wrappers of predetermined lengths, means intermittentlyoperable to position successive said wrappers in cooperation withsuccessive said stopped articles, and intermittently operable means fordepositing successive said stopped articles in successive saidpositioned wrappers.

23. An article packaging device as set forth in claim 19, includingmeans for supplying a continuous succession of articles to saidvibratory means, means for intermittently moving a continuous strip offlexible material and simultaneously forming the same into continuoustubing having overlapped adhering edges, cutting means for severing saidcontinuous tubing into wrappers of predetermined lengths, meansintermittently operable to position successive said wrappers incooperation with successively stopped articles, and intermittentlyoperable means for depositing successive said stopped articles insuccessive said positioned wrappers.

24. Apparatus of the character described including duplicate, oppositelydisposed article-packaging devices as set forth in claim 1, whereinoppositely disposed sets of said relatively movable gripping fingers arereciprocable by said gripper means to deposit articles in the tubularwrappers of the respective said devices.

25. Apparatus of the character described including duplicate, oppositelydisposed article-packaging devices as set forth in claim 1, whereinoppositely disposed sets of said relatively movable gripping fingers arereciprocable by said gripper means to deposit articles in the tubularwrappers of the respective said devices, and means being 14 provided foryieldingly resisting said reciprocation of said gripper means to steadythe action of the same.

26. Apparatus of the character described including duplicate oppositelydisposed, article packaging devices as set forth in claim 15, whereinsaid reciprocable means is coordinated with said progressive movement oftubular wrappers of the respective packaging devices into alignment withoppositely disposed said leading articles thereof alternately to depositthe compressed articles in the respective aligned wrappers.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,992,463 Berger Feb. 26, 1935 2,099,257 Bergstein Nov. 16, 19372,134,049 Killian et al. Oct. 25, 1938 2,395,089 Arelt Feb. 19, 19462,413,556 Fourness et al Dec. 31, 1946 2,580,456 Noe Jan. 1, 19522,661,830 Total Dec. 8, 1953 2,682,137 Cox June 29, 1954 2,710,712Friedman June 14, 1955 2,728,506 Kurkjian Dec. 27, 1955 2,935,174 WynnMay 3, 1960

7. A METHOD OF PACKAGING COMPRESSIBLE ARTICLES IN TUBULAR WRAPPERS,COMPRISING THE STEPS OF MOVING A SUCCESSION OF THE ARTICLES FLATWISE INEDGE-TO-EDGE RELATIONSHIP TO A STOP POSITION OF THE SUCCESSIVE LEADINGARTICLES, WHILE SIMULTANEOUSLY MOVING A SUCCESSION OF TUBULAR WRAPPERSINTO A STOP POSITION IN ALIGNMENT WITH AN EDGE OF SUCCESSIVE LEADINGARTICLES, AND WHILE MOMENTARILY RETAINING SAID SUCCESSIVE WRAPPERS ANDARTICLES IN SAID ALIGN-